Macaroni with Mushroom and Cheese

Recipe for Macaroni with Mushroom and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 80g Pasta
• 1 glove Garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon Butter
• 8 Cremini Mushroom aka Brown Swiss Mushrooms, sliced
• 180ml - 200ml Cooking Cream
• 2 handful Mixed Shredded Cheese

How to do it:

1. Cook pasta in lightly salted water and according to the package's instructions.
2. Drain and set aside in baking dish.
3. In a pan, add in butter.When butter started to melt, add in garlic.
4. Saute till fragrant. Garlic should be soften but not brown.
5. Add in mushroom and continue cooking for about a minute.
6. Pour in cooking cream.
7. Cooking till mushroom have absorb the liquid and the cream has thicken a little.
8. Add a pinch of salt.
9. Pour over the cooked pasta.
10. Give it a gentle toss or just mix a little so the mushroom will get mixed around with the pasta.
11. Top the pasta with cheese.
12. Bake at preheat oven at 240c for 10mins or till cheese brown.
13. Remove and serve immediately.

Note:

• I'm using straight macaroni so the portion looks small but it is very compact.  Hence, although the portion seems little but is just nice for one person (but very filling for me).  Use your favourite pasta if you like. :)
• You can add cooked (grilled/fried) chicken or fish with or without the mushroom.  Seafood would nice too.

as seen in https://instagram.com/p/2VTEEKgdKp/

{ Breakfast: Creamy Ham & Cheese on Thick Toast }

I used to order a similar Toast from a certain Tea Room (茶餐厅).  I haven't have this for a long time as I find it too expensive.

I have already forgotten how it tasted like since it has been a few years since I had this.  Making my own version for breakfast today.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices Thick Bread
• 2 slices Ham
• 2 tablespoon Japanese Mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese
• Paprika
• Dried Parsley 

How to do it:

1. Dice ham and mix them with Worcestershire Sauce and Mayonnaise.
2. Spread the mixture on bread.
3. Top with both Cheese.
4. Sprinkle on Paprika and Dried Parsley.
5. Toast in preheated oven at 240c for 5 mins or till the cheese melts and starts to brown.
6. Serve immediately.

{ Breakfast : Ham and Cheese Sandwich }

The kids made their own breakfast today.  They had Pizza Bread and had some ingredients left.

I stir-fried the leftover button mushroom with a little butter and seasoned it with a pinch of salt.  In the same pan, I did some Caramelised Onion.  I added those two items to my ham and cheese sandwich while it's hot so they could melt the cheese a little. ^_^

I did a Crabstick and Corn Salad with the remaining kanimi surimi and corn to go with my sandwich.  I topped the salad with the tobiko left from dinner two days ago.

This got to be one of my favourite breakfasts 'cos it has got everything that I love; even though they were made from leftovers.

{ Dinner: Pan Grilled Chicken Chop with Ham and Cheese } 火腿芝士鸡扒

I had to run some errands yesterday and didn't plan for dinner.

Before I headed home, I dropped by Cold Storage and bought a tray of (4pcs) boneless chicken thighs for under $10.

I went home and dug into my fridge for other ingredients and decided to make this for dinner. It was a rush job, all done under an hour for 4 servings. As I didn't have enough time to marinate the chicken well, I used honey baked ham and cheese to further enhance the taste.

I'm pleased that the rushed out dinner wasn't that bad. ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Drumstick or Breast, deboned
• 4 slices Ham Baked Ham, cut into strips
• 4 slices Cheese

Optional Ingredients:

• 10 - 15 New/Baby Potatoes or any potato of your choice, scrubbed and cleaned (skin if you prefer not to have the skin on)
• 2 Carrot, skinned and chop into smaller pieces.
• 3 medium Onion, cut into half (I'm using red onions here)

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
• Rind of 1 Lemon
• 1 teaspoon Chicken Powder or Salt
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• Sprinkle of  Ground Black Pepper (optional)

How to do it:

1. Clean and dab chicken meat dry.
2. Add marinade to chicken meat and blend well with the meat..
3. Set aside for 1/2 hour.
4. Heat grill pan with a tablespoon olive oil.
5. Grill chicken skin down first for about 2 mins, till brown.
6. Turn over and continue to grill the other side of the chicken till it's completely cooked.
7. Place ham on top of chicken chop; skin side up and top with cheese.
8. Cover and continue grilling for a 10-15 seconds till the cheese starts to melt.
9. While pan grilling the chicken meat, prepare the vegetables, if you are serving it with the chicken chop.
10. Boil the vegetables in a pot of lightly salted water for 10-15 mins till they are tender. This is to cut down cooking time. I usually just let them roast in the oven.
11. Drain and set aside.
12. Pan fry 3 strips of diced streaky bacon till lightly brown. 
13. Pan grill the onion at the same time while pan frying the diced bacon.
14. Add in the drained vegetables and toss well in the oil.
15. Transfer the vegetables and roast at 240c for 15 mins.
16. Sprinkle with some salt and set aside to be served.
17. Serve chicken chop with roasted vegetables.

Note:

• Oil Splatter Alert! I'm using a HCP grill pan to cook it. If you do not have one, use a pan with a cover.
• If you do not have an oven to roast the vegetables, you can pan fry them lightly but it will take a longer time as you have to turn them one at a time to avoid burning them.

{ Breakfast: Mini Burger Set } 迷你汉堡套餐

This was for breakfast today.

I made Mini Cheesy Burger today. For the patties, I used minced meat, fish paste, crab stick and mozzarella cheese. The burger, using butter roll,  was with a sliced of cheese, some shredded cabbage with mayonnaise.

The side were simple egg roll, edamame beans and salad

What did you have for breakfast?

Baked Cheesy Cauliflower Mash 烤芝士花椰菜泥

I haven't had time to update my recipes but I have been cooking! ;) Have a look at my Instagram if you are interested to know what we have been eating at home and what recipes I will be sharing soon. If only I have 48 hours a day ...

Anyway, I cooked Chicken Chop with Cauliflower Mash last Thursday for dinner and had some cauliflower mash left. It was cold after I left it out and it didn't taste nice. :P I didn't want to waste it and decided to baked it with some cheese. My daughter soon finished the whole dish of it after I offered her a spoon full of the baked mash. And she requested I make it again.

As requested, I made it again last night. I would suggest you use a shallow dish instead of a deep dish to bake this. It's a lot nicer with more cheese. The cheese topping will not be enough to go round for a deep dish of cauliflower mash. If you prefer a healthier choice with lesser cheese, go ahead and use a deep dish instead.

I recently received a Bosch ErgoMixx Hand Blender for review and it really makes preparing the cauliflower mash a whiz. I will share more on the product in another post.

Ingredients (3-4 servings):

• 600g Cauliflower, cut into florets
• 10g Butter
• 3 tablespoon Shredded Parmesan Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese (for each serving)
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese powder (for each serving)
• Parsley Flakes (optional)

How to do it:

1. Boil cauliflower florets in a pot of salted water till tender.
2. Drain and puree the cauliflower with butter.
3. Divide cauliflower puree into 3 or 4 portions
4. Mix a tablespoon Shredded Parmesan Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese in each portion.
5. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoon cheese over each portion cauliflower mash.
6. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese powder and parsley flakes, if using, for each portion.
7. Bake in preheat oven at 250C for 10min or till cheese melts and Parmesan cheese powder turns brown.
8. Serve and eat with caution.

Note:
Instead of Shredded Parmesan Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese, you can try using other cheese.

Fried Potato Wedges with Paprika and Cheese 红椒粉与芝士粉调炸土豆角

I did this to go with Maltose Rib 2 weeks ago. It is really easy to do and there are so many ways to season it with.

Here, I seasoned it with truffle salt, paprika and pamensan cheese. It was so tasty that I had to control myself not to finish it. :P Try it with your preferred seasonings if you like.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium Potato, skin peeled and cut into chunks or wedges
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 2 tablespoon Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1-2 pinch Salt (I use Truffle Salt)
  Sprinkle of Dried Parsley (optional)
  Oil for frying

How to do:

1. Boil a pot of water seasoned with salt.
2. Place potatoes into the water to boil for 10-15 minutes or till tender.
3. Drain and pat dry the potato wedges.
4. Heat a pot of oil.
5. Shallow or deep fry the cooked potato wedges till lightly golden brown.
6. Remove and drain on paper towel.
7. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan cheese immediately.
8. Season with paprika and salt once the Parmesan cheese has stick to the potatoes.
9. Toss gently to mix well.
10. Serve immediately.

Note:

• You can also leave the potato skin on. Just scrub it clean before cooking it.
• The time needed to cook the potatoes depends on the type of potato used and the size it is cut into.
• The potato wedges are ready if it is easy to poke a toothpick in them.
• You have to spinkle the Parmesan cheese immediately when you remove the potato wedges from the oil, so the heat can melt the cheese and stick.
• However, it is better to let the oil drain away from the potato wedges before you add the paprika and salt so that the potato wedges will not be over covered with the seasonings.

Cheese Stuffed Pork Cutlet 芝士炸猪扒

This is the second dish that I prepared last Friday that I will be sharing the recipe.

In fact this, like the Pork and Vegetable Stew, is my old recipe which I'm trying to improve. Now the pork tasted better and you can fry it on it's own without cheese stuffed in it.

Ingredients:

• 250g Lean Pork, about 6 slices
• 3 slices Cheese, 1 for each Cutlet
• 1 Egg, beaten
• Plain Flour for dusting
• Breadcrumbs for coating
• Oil for deep frying

Seasonings:

• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Mirin
• 1/2 tablespoon Sake or Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger Juice
• a dash of Ground Black Pepper

How to do it:

1. Pat meat dry with paper towel.
2. Tenderise and flatten the meat on both side with a meat mallet till the meat expand and thin.
3. Marinate the meat with seasonings for at least half an hour.
4. Cut cheese into half or to size to fit inside the meat. Keep the cheese away from the side as it will melt and sip through the meat when you fry.
5. Cover with another piece of meat.
6. Dust with flour.
7. Dip in beaten egg.
8. Coat well with breadcrumbs.
9. Deep fry till it turn golden brown.
10. Serve immediately, here with BBQ sauce.

Note:

• If you prefer more cheese, you can add another half a slice. I use 1 1/2 slices for my cutlet.
• Although we want to get the meat thin, try to be careful not to over do it till it's too thin as it may tear during frying causing the cheese to oozes out.
• If you would like to make plain pork cutlet without the cheese, just skip steps 4 and 5.

Mac and Cheese with Ham Gratin 芝士火腿烤意大利粉

Many years ago, my BFF Shirley and I frequent this Japanese Restaurant at Scotts Isetan very often after work. I always order their Macaroni with Teriyaki Chicken Gratin. (I'm a boring person).

It's different from the American's Mac & Cheese, which is basically Macaroni with Cheese Sauce, if I'm not mistaken. This Japanese Macaroni Gratin, is not as thick or over loaded Cheese Sauce. It's more like a cream sauce with Cheese in it and the top is baked with golden Parmesan Cheese. It could be other Cheese though but I'm sure it's not breadcrumbs that gives it the colour. ;) And it goes really well with the succulent Teriyaki Chicken, which I shall add on the next time I improve on this dish. :)

The restaurant has closed years ago and we haven't found any Macaroni and Cheese Gratin quite close to theirs. As much as I tried my best to replicate the dish, I too didn't come close to it.

Well, if you would like to try making your own Mac & Cheese Gratin instead of buying the instant ones from the supermarkets, you might like to try my recipe. At least, it helps clears out Cheese scraps for mommies who are into making bentos for their kids.

Ingredients (for 1 portion only):

• 60g Macaroni or Assorted Pasta
• 50g Chopped Ham
• 1-2 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese

Sauce:

• 15g Butter
• 100ml Cooking Cream
• 120ml Water
• 1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
• 2 slices Cheddar Cheese
• 1 slice Regular Cheese

How to do it:

1. Cook macaroni in salted water according to the package or till just done.
2. Pour them in a oven proof dish and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan on low heat. Butter should not be burning.
4. Gradually add in the flour and whisk till smooth.
5. Turn up the heat to medium low and gradually add in the cooking cream while whisking.
6. Repeat the same for the water.
7. Add in the ham.
8. Melt the cheese in the sauce till all has blend in.
9. Pour the sauce over the cooked macaroni. Mix them if you like.
10. Top it with Parmesan Cheese.
11. Baked in a preheated oven at 220c for 10 mins.
12. Serve hot.

Notes:

• Do not cook the roux (butter with flour) in high heat as it will burn and the roux will turn dark.
• The amount of water add depends on how thick you want the sauce to be. Hence, add gradually and stop adding if you think the sauce is thin enough for you.
• I recommend you use 2 slices of cheddar cheese with 1 slice of regular or mozzarella. You can have any combination you like.
• For those who do not have an oven, you may serve it after step 10, with salt and ground pepper to taste, if you like.

Grilled Sea Bass with Thyme and Garlic Butter

My husband is away on an overseas business trip for the past week (meaning less cooking :p)

Usually I will eat whatever leftover from the kids' dinner. However, I had a piece of Seabass in the fridge that I wanted to clear, so I made a simple dinner for myself yesterday instead of having leftovers.

I had the sea bass grilling in the oven while I worked on the sides. This also means less cleaning up. You can pan-fry it too. You can have to watch over it so it will burn.

Ingredients for Grilled Sea bass:

• 1 slice Sea bass
• 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 2 sprig Fresh Thyme
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste

Ingredients for Zesty Garlic Butter:

• 2 clove Garlic, minced
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• 1 tablespoon Butter

Ingredients for Mashed Cauliflower:

• 230g Cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1/3 tablespoon Butter
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese (optional)
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Clean and pat dry sea bass.
2. Mix herbs and spice ingredients for sea bass together.
3. Rub all over the sea bass and set aside for 15 mins.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the zesty garlic butter but mixing all ingredients together.
5. Spread half of the butter on the skin side of the seabass.
6. Grilled the sea bass on rack in preheat oven at 250C for 8 mins, longer if you want the skin browned.
7. Turn over, spread the remaining butter and continue to grill for another 8 mins.
8. While the sea bass is grilling in the oven, prepare the cauliflower.
9. Steam the cauliflower florets for 10 mins. You can blanch them too.
10. Drain well and pour into a blender.
11. Add the butter and half of the parmesan cheese.
12. Blend till smooth.
13. Add salt to taste.
14. Scoop out onto a plate and sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese.
15. You can bake it in the oven to brown it if you like.
16. Remove sea bass from oven and serve together with the mashed cauliflower.

 

Prawn Croquette 虾子可乐饼

This was one of the dishes I made for my kids' lunch boxes today.

You can make this in advance and fry it when you are ready. You can even add mixed vegetables (corn, peas and chopped carrots). I didn't cos I was trying to get the kids to eat potato. I didn't want to push my luck by adding too much things in it.

I added some cheese instead, obviously not enough of it and the wrong type this time. I would suggest using Cheddar and Mozzarella. Parmesan Cheese is nice too. I usually use those but I was clearing whatever I have in the fridge, so this is it. :P

Ingredients:

• 3 medium Potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 6 Medium Prawn, shelled and deveined
• Cheese of your choice
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• All purpose flour for dusting
• 1 Egg, beaten
• Breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying

How to do it:

1. Blanch prawns till almost cooked.
2. Dab dry and set aside.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste to mashed potatoes.
4. Add mix vegetables if you like.
5. Oil your palms, so the mashed potato won't stick on your palms.
6. Scoop about a tablespoon of mashed potato onto your palm.
7. Add some cheese and place a prawn on it.
8. Add more cheese and cover with half to a tablespoon of mashed potato.
9. Shape and cover the prawn well.
10. Dust with flour shaking excess.
11. Dip into beaten egg.
12. Coat with breadcrumbs.
13. Deep fry till golden brown.
14. Drain and serve immediately.

Note:

• If you are using cheese singles, cut each piece into 4 strips and wrap each prawn with 1 to 2 strips of cheese, depending on the size of the prawn.
• To make it more cheesy, you can mix Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheese together with mashed potato.
• As all ingredients are cooked, you don't have to deep fry it for too long. Just enough to get it into a light golden brown shade.

Baked Portabello with Ham and Cheese 火腿芝士烘烤褐菇

Sometimes, I can be so busy at (house) work that I totally forgot to eat. :P It happened again last night. I was feeling hungry after mid-night and realised I had skipped dinner.

I didn't want to do too much cleaning and washing so I used the oven to bake myself these to go with some cabbage salad.  Incidentally, this is the first recipe that got me to start my food blog. It was a dish that I had at a cafe at Borders, which I was trying to replicate.

You can have a look the original 1st version of the recipe here and the 1st revision to the recipe here. This is my 2nd revision. ;) I can only say that I'm glad  it's looking better each time. :P  Maybe I should really consider doing a revision of all my older recipes here. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Portabello Mushroom (I'm using medium sized here)
• 1 teaspoon Butter
• Sprinkle of Garlic Powder
• 2 tablespoon coarsely chopped Ham
• 2 tablespoon Perfect Italiano's Pizza Plus or a mixed of Mozzarella, Cheddar and Parmesan 
• Parsley Flakes (optional)

How to do it:

1. Remove stalk from mushroom and clean it with a damp cloth.
2. Spread a little butter on the cap of the mushroom and spread the the rest on the underside. If you have butter spray, use that instead.
3. Sprinkle some garlic powder
4. Bake in preheated oven at 200C for 5 minutes.
5. Remove and sprinkle some cheese, place ham and cover with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake at 220C for 15mins or till cheese melts and brown a little.
7. Remove and top with parsley flakes if you like.
8. Serve immediately.

Cheesy Chicken Sticks酥脆芝士鸡柳

I'm doing a quick post here, a remake of my older recipe, with very little changes. I was trying to finish a pack of self-raising flour and I used it here instead of the normal plain flour. It works really well too.

I'm re-posting the recipe here for easy reference. This is one of my meat-hating kids' favourite. 

Ingredients:

• 1 skinless chicken breast meat, sliced into strips
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce 
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Power (optional)

Coating:

• 1 portion Breadcrumbs or Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1 portion Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 5 tablespoon Self Raising Flour or Plain Flour

How to do it:

1. Cut the chicken meat into strips
2. Marinate with light soy sauce and garlic poweder for 30 minutes.
3. Dust the chicken with flour.
4. Dip the chicken in the beaten egg.
5. Coat well with Panko mixed with Parmesan Cheese.
6. Deep fry till golden brown.
7. Dish and drain away excess oil.
8. Serve with or without your desire sauce.

Note:

• I used equal portions of panko and cheese here. You have choose to have more of cheese or more of panko if you like.
• You can sprinkle on some chilli powder or paprika after frying too.

 

Cheesy Meatball 香煎芝士肉饼

This is one of the dishes that I made often because it's a kid's favourite.

For this particular one one, I tweaked an old recipe of mine which was done by deep frying it. This time I use the Happy Call Pan to do it. It's so much juicer and the kids love it as much.

Ingredients:

• 100g Minced Pork or Chicken
• 100g Fish Paste
• 3 slice Chesse, cut into 9 pcs each
• a dash of Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil for frying

How to do it:

1. Mix pork and fish paste together.
2. Scoop about 2 - 3 tablespoons of paste onto your (clean) oiled palm.
3. Place 4 pieces of cheese stacked together in the middle.
4. Fold in the paste so that it covers the cheese stack.
5. Shape it with your palms before frying it.  
6. Meanwhile, spread oil on the pan and heat it on medium low heat.
7. Place all the meatballs in the pan.
8. Close the pan and cook it for 4 minutes.
9. Open the pan and turn it over to cook for another 3 minutes till it turn lightly brown.
10. Dish and sprinkle on some Parmesan Cheese if you like.

Note:
I do not season the meat paste and fish paste is usually seasoned and the cheese in it will give it the extra saltiness.

Egg, Ham and Cheese in Pandan Crepe三色香兰卷

If you have been making Ham and Cheese Sandwich for your kids and they no longer longer show interest in eating it, this might be a good alternative.

I did a small modification to my original recipe. I added cheese and using pandan paste instead of pandan juice. Yes, it's not natural but it saves lots of time and work. You can still go ahead to use the home made pandan juice or you can leave the crepe plain too.

Ingredients:

• 100g Plain flour, shifted
• 3 Eggs
• 150ml Water
• 2-3 Ham, sliced in strips
• 1-2 slice Cheese, cut into strips
• 1/2 teaspoon Pandan Paste
• a pinch of Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar

How to do it:

1. Stir in water to flour slowly.
2. Add in 1 egg.
3. Add pandan paste to make the batter green.
4. Add in the salt and sugar.
5. Beat egg and set aside
6. Using a non-stick pan, pour in some pandan batter.
7. Let the batter spread into a thin crepe.
8. Turn it over and remove when both sides are cooked.
9. Using the same pan, slowly pour in 1/2 of the beaten egg.
10. Let the egg mixture spread into a thin egg crepe.
11. Turn it over and remove when both sides are cooked.
12. Place the egg on the cooked pandan crepe.
13. Put cheese and ham strips on one side and roll both egg and pancake together.
14. Cut into smaller pieces, hold with food picks and serve.

Note:

• The pandan batter makes about 4 crepes.
• You might need 2-3 eggs, depending on the size of your eggs, to make the same number of egg crepes.

Easy Pizza 简易比萨饼

It has been raining non-stop recently. The kids are stuck at home most of the time. I decided to let them make pizza for dinner to pass time.

They get to have some fun and I get to make them eat what they made. ;p My kids don't eat pizza. Hence I told them if they want to make it, they will have to eat it too. I'm glad my plan worked because the elder one finished almost the whole pizza and the younger one finished half of it.

Using Wraps as Pizza Base

I used Wraps as the pizza base and pasta sauce for the pizza sauce. I prepared a few ingredients that the kids would like and some that they didn't. *trying my luck* They went ahead to prepare the pizza that they like.

I baked the pizza at 200C for 15 minutes and the easy peasy pizzas are ready to be eaten!





In case you are interested, I have prepared hot-dog, ham, canned button mushroom, pre-cooked bacon, tomato, bell peppers, onions and Mozzarella Cheese.

My pizza, using whatever the kids have left over and what they didn't want.
It has lots of bell pepper, onions & tomatoes. I love it! ;)

Cheesy Mushroom Baked Rice 芝士蘑菇烤饭

I had a sudden craving for baked rice and since I had all the ingredients needed, I decided to make it for my dinner.

I don't usually have left over rice but I had a bowl of it as my husband decided to have instant noodle instead of home cooked dinner the night before. Grrrr .... Anyway, I didn't turn off my rice cooker hence my bowl of rice was still rather 'fresh'. I don't really like over night rice as it's a bit on the dry side and not as fluffy.

You can use freshly cooked rice or over night rice, which ever you prefer. Here's my recipe for the baked rice. ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 bowl Cooked Rice
• 2 strip Streaky Bacon, cut into bits
• 6 Fresh Button Mushroom, sliced
• 2/3 can Campbell's Prego Carbonara Mushroom Pasta Sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon each Romano, Mozzarella & Parmesan Cheese
• Extra Romano & Parmesan Cheese for toppings
• 1/4 Red Capsicum, diced
• 1 clove Garlic, minced (optional)
• 1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil

How to do it:

1. Place cooked rice in oven proof dish.
2. Heat oil and saute garlic till fragrant.
3. Add bacon bits and sliced mushrooms.
4. Stir fry till bacon are brown, mushrooms are cooked and the sauce are almost dry.
5. Meanwhile, mix rice with pasta sauce.
6. Add the cheese on the rice.
7. Pour the cooked mushroom and bacon and diced red capsicum over the rice.
8. Quickly stir to mix well.
9. Top with additional Romano & Parmesan Cheese.
10. Bake at 250C for 20 minutes or till the cheese on top is golden brown.
11. Serve immediately.

Note:
If you are using overnight rice kept in the fridge, bring it out earlier so it won't be too cold. You will need a longer baking time. You might want to reduce the temperature to 220C and bake it longer.

Roasted Cauliflower 烤花椰菜

It's one of the days that I do not wish to cook but have to. Hence, all cooking is done using the oven, less work, less washing and cleaning. This is  a super easy to 'cook' dish and I simply love the aroma of baked cauliflower.

Ingredients:

• 220g Cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt or to taste
• Sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese (optional)

How to do it:

1. Toss florets in oil and salt.
2. Place in an oven proof dish and cover with foil.
3. Bake at 220C for 15 minutes.
4. Remove foil and give the florets a toss.
5. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and return to bake uncovered for another 5 to 7 minutes till you get the little brown bits on the top.
6. Serve.

PS. Check out the curried version.

Seasoned (leftover) Fries 辣蒜粉调味薯条

My daughter and I had fast food after her Chinese Enrichment Class yesterday. I ordered a little too much and the fries were left almost untouched. Maybe, it was bland and soggy? :P

I didn't want to waste it and brought it home. I sprinkled on some spice and bake it. It turned out slightly crispy on the outside and they tasted so much better. My husband finished them and told me, we I should always do this with fries next time. O.o

What I added to the fries were Paprika, Garlic Powder, Parmesan Cheese, Dried Parsley and Salt (optional). Toss them to mix well before baking it at 180C for around 10 minutes, depending on the leftover fries. Mine was soggy, hence I baked it longer.

Next time, when you want to toss away the pack of bland or soggy fries, try savaging it by doing this instead. :)